1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, in particular, a dynamic random access memory (i.e., DRAM) whose memory cell portion has a trench-type stacked cell structure. More specifically, the present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device including a storage capacity element portion that is suitable for a highly integrated device and has high reliability, and to a method for manufacturing the semiconductor memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the implementation of a smaller-scale device and a larger-capacity DRAM in recent years, the surface area occupied by a single memory cell on a chip of a semiconductor memory device is reduced increasingly.
FIG. 11 is a plan view schematically showing the layout of trench-type stacked cell capacitors (i.e., concave-type capacitors) formed in a memory cell region. In FIG. 11, reference numeral 110 denotes a cell plate electrode, LS1 denotes the short side length of a cell capacitor, LS2 denotes the long side length of the cell capacitor, and TS1 denotes the distance between the adjacent cell capacitors.
FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line I-II in FIG. 11. FIG. 12 illustrates a cell capacitor A (with a capacitance of CS1), a cell capacitor B (with a capacitance of CS2) and a cell capacitor C (with a capacitance of CS3), which are adjacent to one another. Each of the cell capacitors is a trench-type stacked cell, i.e., the cell capacitor region is recessed, and the plate electrode 110 is exposed on the entire surface. Here, H represents the height of the cell capacitor. These cell capacitors are connected to transfer transistors so as to form a storage capacity element portion (i.e., a DRAM circuit), as shown in FIG. 13. In FIG. 13, WL1, WL2 and WL3 are word lines, and Cp, is a parasitic capacitance formed between the cell capacitors. The parasitic capacitance Cp will be described later.
The following is an explanation of the structure shown in FIG. 12. An interlayer insulating film 111 is deposited on the region where memory cells are formed. The interlayer insulating film 111 has holes for providing storage nodes (i.e., lower electrodes of the memory cells), and conductive films 108a, 108b and 108c that act as the storage nodes are formed in the holes. Each of the storage nodes is connected to a plug 112 via a barrier metal (not shown). A capacitor insulating film 109 and the plate electrode 110 are deposited on the entire surface, including the insides of the holes where the storage nodes have been formed, without removing the interlayer insulating film 111. In other words, the trench-type stacked cell structure is a cell structure that utilizes only the inner surfaces of the trenches defined by the interlayer insulating film 111 as capacitors.
FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of conventional simple-stacked memory cells. In FIG. 14, capacitor insulating films 102, and thereon a plate electrode 103 are formed so as to cover cylindrical storage nodes 101.
FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of conventional cylindrical cell capacitors. In FIG. 15, capacitor insulating films 105, and thereon a plate electrode 106 are formed so as to cover the inner and outer surfaces of cylindrical storage nodes 104.
FIGS. 16A to 16E are cross-sectional views showing the manufacturing steps of conventional cylindrical cell capacitors. First, as shown in FIG. 16A, transfer gate MOS transistors 1603 are formed on a semiconductor substrate (not shown), on which a first interlayer insulating film 1601 is deposited, and then contact plugs 1602 are formed. Next, as shown in FIG. 16B, a second interlayer insulating flm 1604 is deposited. After deposition of a resist, a hole pattern for storage nodes is formed by photolithography. Using the hole pattern as a mask, holes 1605 for storage nodes are formed in the second interlayer insulating film 1604 by anisotropic dry etching, as shown in FIG. 16C. After formation of the contact holes, a film for forming storage nodes, e.g., a silicon film is deposited. The silicon film on the second interlayer insulating film 1604 is removed selectively by dry etching or the like, so that the silicon films having a cylindrical shape are left only in the holes 1605, which serves as cylindrical storage nodes 1606. Then, the second interlayer insulating film 1604 is removed selectively, e.g., by wet etching, thus leaving the cylindrical storage nodes 1606 on the first interlayer insulating film 1601, as shown in FIG. 16D. Finally, as shown in FIG. 16E, capacitor insulating films 1607 are formed, followed by a plate electrode 1608, resulting in memory cell capacitors.
For the structures shown in FIGS. 14, 15 and 16E, the adjacent cell capacitors are connected electrically by the plate electrodes 103, 106 and 1608, respectively, each of which has the same electric potential. Therefore, a large parasitic capacitance is not generated between the adjacent cell capacitors even if the plate electrode is covered with an interlayer insulating film (not shown).
FIGS. 17A to 17E are cross-sectional views showing the manufacturing steps of the conventional trench-type stacked cell structure described above. The flow of the steps shown in FIGS. 17A, 17B and 17C is the same as that in FIGS. 16A, 16B and 16C, i.e., the steps of forming transfer gate MOS transistors 1703, depositing a first interlayer insulating film 1701, forming contact plugs 1702, depositing a second interlayer insulating film 1704, and forming holes 1705 for storage nodes in the second interlayer insulating film 1704 by lithography and dry etching. After these steps, cylindrical storage nodes 1706 are formed, as shown in FIG. 17D. Then, a capacitor insulating film 1707, and thereon a plate electrode 1708 are formed without removing the second interlayer insulating film 1704, as shown in FIG. 17E.
The above method for manufacturing the trench-type stacked cell structure eliminates the step of removing the second interlayer insulating film 1704 around the storage nodes and can proceed to the next step. Therefore, the manufacturing steps can be shortened and nonuniformity in the pattern of the cylindrical storage nodes 1706 can be suppressed as well. Moreover, unlike the structures shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, it is not necessary to estimate a margin between cell capacitors when the cell capacitor pattern is formed by lithography and dry etching. Thus, this method is very effective in scaling down the device. A large-capacity DRAM can be achieved by arranging a number of small trench-type stacked cells that are produced in such a simple process as described above.
In view of this, the trench-type stacked cell structures shown in FIGS. 12 and 17E are expected to be used as the capacitor structure of memory cells in a future DRAM.
In the trench-type stacked cell structure, though the storage nodes (i.e., the lower electrodes) of the individual cell capacitors are separated electrically and have different potentials, an interlayer insulating film is interposed between the adjacent cell capacitors. Therefore, the trench-type stacked cell structure may cause a problem that a larger parasitic capacitance is generated easily compared with other cell capacitor structures, even if the distance between adjacent cell capacitors in the trench-type stacked cell structure is the same as that in the other structures.
For instance, in the example shown in FIG. 12, the interlayer insulating films 111 are interposed between the storage node 108a of the cell capacitor A and the storage node 108b of the cell capacitor B and between the storage node 108b and the storage node 108c of the cell capacitor C. Thus, a parasitic capacitance Cp4 is generated between each of the cell capacitors so as to make a connection between them, as indicated by the broken line (Cp) in FIG. 13.
When one of the adjacent memory cell capacitors A and B, e.g., the capacitor A is in the charge storage state (logic “1”) and the other memory cell capacitor, e.g., the capacitor B is in the discharge state (logic “0”), the parasitic capacitance Cp has the following effect on both capacitors. With an increase in the parasitic capacitance Cp, the potential of the capacitor B in the discharge state is increased as a result of being affected by the potential of the capacitor A in the charge storage state, while the potential of the capacitor A is decreased as a result of being affected by the potential of the capacitor B.
When reading is performed after charge has been retained in the above condition, information that has been originally in the discharge or charge storage state exceeds the threshold voltage for discriminating between the two states. Consequently, the cell capacitor in its discharge state is recognized as to be in the charge storage state or the cell capacitor in its charge storage state is recognized as to be in the discharge state. Thus, the information is detected as an error signal, which prevents normal operation of the memory.